Instant Search won't find Notes field in iCloud (Outlook Tip 954)

Instant Search won't find content in the Notes field in the iCloud folder, but unlike other iCloud issues, this one is very easy to fix – you need to add the Notes field to the view.

All was working well for me in the iCloud until I realized that you can't search notes in an Outlook contact if it is in Contacts in iCloud. I have tested this by creating two contacts with identical Note sections. One is in Contacts and one is in Contacts in iCloud. The search feature works perfectly in the Contact in Outlook but doesn't work in the cloud version.

First, click in the search field then go to Search tools > Location to search – verify iCloud is selected. If its not selected, Instant Search won't search it.

If Instant search still won't find content, you need to add the field to your view. In my tests, this worked every time.

Adding the Notes field to the view

If you aren't using a List view (like phone list), you need to switch to it.

In Outlook 2010:

Switch to the View ribbon and click the Change View button to select a list view.
Click the View Settings button to add the Notes field to the view.

Outlook 2007:

Expand the View menu and select the phone list, By Category, or By Company view.
Right click on the row of field names above the contacts and choose Field Chooser.
Find "Notes" in the field chooser and drag it to the row of field names. (It should be in the Frequently used fields that display first.)

Now searching for words in that field should work.